Swim Good
by Nonumaru
Summary: It is summer and the start of another season for Kohona Swim Team. Can the shared struggle of this sport keep everyone together? Or will love, loss and competitive natures spread this close knit group apart?
1. Too Early

**Hello everyone, this is Nonumaru. This is one of my many fanfics wrote for the Naruto Shippuden series, but the first one based on my own experiences with swimming. My friends and I lead crazy lives, so why wouldn't they be perfect for telling stories with? Enjoy, read and review always!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and never will. Though as relatable as these characters are, I don't see why we don't own this fandom already. **

**Warnings: Swearing and possible sexual references.**

**XXX**

**June 10, 11:58 A.M.**

Sakura sat on her best friend's plush leather sofa, brooding. Her bright pink hair stood out like a sore thumb in the fairly mute colored room. She pushed her knees up to her chest; arms folded around them while she slid open and shut her cell phone.

Sakura sighed and gazed over at Ino, her friend, who seemed to be fairly content to text on her new IPhone. All and all, Sakura couldn't help but be jealous. Ino's long blond hair and large chest attracted many males near the end of junior high. The attention got even worse once she got into high school.

Ino made Sakura feel really undeveloped in that department at least. Her chest could barely fill out a B cup. Her skinny, wiry figure did little to catch the eye of the opposite sex she thought, and her short hair didn't help. Although, she liked the hairstyle that way, it made her feel more sophisticated. People would take her more seriously.

Sakura peered over Ino's shoulder and wondered who she was texting. The blond tending to have feelings for multiple guys at once, any of which Sakura would be glad to even pay attention to her.

When she looked at Ino's phone, instead of seeing Neji's name light up the screen, it was Shikamaru's instead.

"Ino, don't you think that you're hopping between boys too much? I mean, what happened to you and Neji?"

Ino put her phone down and looked at her friend. "Neji? I'm kind of disenchanted with that guy. We went to see that movie the other day, and he just seemed so… I don't know, distant."

Baby blue eyes met emerald green in an instant. "Maybe he's just shy," Sakura said, "I'd be nervous if I was him too. You are his first girlfriend after all."

"I know Sakura, but that's not half of it." Ino ran a hand through her soft hair and averted her eyes. "He's been like this since we started dating a month ago. I'm okay with shy guys, but this was to the point to he wouldn't talk to me in public. He was cold and spoke to me like I was a terrible distant relative. He waited a long time for me to decide to date him, and don't get me wrong, he was really sweet for a while, but his personality has changed. I can't live with that forever. Especially for the start of junior year, I need a guy who is fun and carefree, like me." She smiled brightly.

"So what are you going to do about it?" Sakura asked, a tad naively.

"Well I already broke up with him-"

A gasp came from Sakura.

"-so I'm moving on now."

"Ino! But-"

Before Sakura could protest further, Ino put her index finger right between her friend's eyes. Sakura fumed.

"Forehead. Calm down."

Sakura squirmed. "You're breaking his heart, Ino-Pig."

Ino sighed happily and hugged Sakura's larger, skinny figure for all she was worth. "I know Forehead, I know. But we're tough competitive swimmers right?" Ino nudged Sakura with her elbow and smiled. "Our lives are tough ones. Neji is just going to have to deal with it."

**XXX**

**June 11, 5:25 A.M.**

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! _

Hinata struggled to reach her alarm from her bed. In her haste she fell flat on her face on the floor. Luckily she had her nine-tailed fox plushy to break her fall. The little animal grinned sweetly up and her and she groaned.

This was another start to another grueling day with their coach. CFH everyone called her. Coach From Hell, Miss Tsunade.

Hinata couldn't go a day without being in water, or even taking a short shower, so swimming to work out was the closest she was going to get to being around the liquid all the time. Plus, since she was working out so much, she didn't have to constantly worry about her weight or what shit she ate.

Hinata had always been a weighty girl. Her mother never seemed to let that fact escape her. She would constantly nitpick and comment on what she was eating, when she was eating, and the whole deal. Hinata couldn't understand it. She looked like a normal kid, why did she have to worry about her weight? As a result of the constant commenting, the view of herself and her body diminished bit by bit throughout the years. Her curvy body, large chest size and muscular limbs were no longer something she thought others considered attractive. The fact that she had never had a boyfriend yet starting junior year made her self esteem drop even lower.

Regardless though she swam, in hopes that someday, she would get praise. Hinata hoped that someday, she would feel beautiful.

Little did she know, she was already beautiful. She just needed someone to tell her that.

After a quick breakfast of Raisin Bran and milk, Hinata suited up. Since today seemed like a purple day, she donned that color one-piece TYR suit. Shorts, a tee shirt, a jacket and her swim bag she also added on her back.

It was only a five-minute bike ride to her high school pool. The early time and freezing cold air made it feel even longer.

By the time she got there, she noticed that the bike rack was fairly full. Ten-ten's and Sakura's bikes were already there.

Opening the locker room door she heard a light groan and an agitated voice whine, "Why the flying fuck am I still here? It is too EARLY!"

She walked in to see Ten-ten, lying on the bench, swim bag completely covering her face. Her dark brown hair was placed in a messy bun on the top of her head.

She could hear Sakura sigh, "Oh shut it Ten-ten, don't get your panties in a wad."

"Too late, I'm not wearing panties." She pulled up her shirt to reveal a Uglies brand swim suit.

Hinata laughed slightly at the exchange. "Come on guys," she said, putting away her bag and getting out her goggles and cap, "Let's get out there before CFH gets on our cases."

Ten-ten groaned. "Go to hell. No, scratch that, CFH can go _burn _in hell."

Sakura whacked her in the arm, hard. "Stop being such a trashy hoe, I really am not in the mood to do a set of 500's today. Remember what happened last time you opened your huge mouth and she heard?"

Everyone in the vicinity groaned at the thought of having to do sets of twenty laps over and over again.

Simultaneously they looked at each other, then scrambled out of the room, scattering a couple middle schoolers who were in the way.

Once on the pool deck, the three girls noticed even more of their friends on the bleachers. Some of the guys were there that day too.

Sai, the antisocial bastard, looked like he was about to kill something as Ino talked to Shikamaru. The genius brained Shikamaru really tried to be invested in the conversation, but he never was a morning person, or day person at all for that matter. His dark brown hair was shuffled up sloppily in a ponytail on the top of his head. The Speedo he wore was stretched out so much that it looked like a diaper. Sai on the other hand wore jammers, down to his knees. His hair was neatly cut army style. The strong muscled shoulders of his supported his defined biceps in a way that would catch anyone's attention.

Before the girls could even begin to sit down, a stern voice came from the left side of the bleachers. "Has anyone seen that idiot of a coach yet?"

Ten-ten froze, whispering to Hinata and Sakura, "It's her…"

Murmurings of CFH spread through the thirty or so swimmers like wildfire. Luckily the coach was still in her office, so they didn't have to face her wrath face to face.

Her voice suddenly seemed decibels louder. "Are you people awake? I SAID, where the bloody hell is that blasted idiot Kakashi! It is already 6:05! I AM NOT WASTING TIME WAITING FOR HIS SILLY ASS TO GET HERE AGAIN! THIS IS THE SECOND WEEK OF CAMP FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!" Yep, that was definitely a megaphone she was holding.

"Yo."

The voice seemed magically to come from above their heads. A shock of silver hair could be seen bobbing up and down on the bleachers on the second floor deck. That kind of hair could only belong to one person only.

"What the hell are you doing Coach Kakashi?" Ten-ten whispered.

"Yeah," Ino said, "Are you trying to get us dismembered?"

They all could see Kakashi's hand rub the back of his head in a sheepish gesture. "Well I kind of ran into a snow-"

"It's the middle of summer." Sakura interrupted.

"-sand-"

"We aren't in the desert."

"-grass storm on the way here. The cutters completely blinded me from seeing the road. You kids should know, safety first."

Sai held up a hand. Everyone turned to stare at him. The hunk was always very silent. It was very rare that he said more than a comment in one day. So to see him confronting a teacher about something was a once in a blue moon event.

"Leave it Coach Kakashi. We all know who you're sleeping with, so try not to make it even more obvious."

No one saw that coming.

But before things could go into a chaotic state, Coach Tsunade strutted out in her usual sweatpants and light jacket combo. Her long blond hair was tied in a low ponytail that just added to the sharpness of her angular looking face. Rumor said it that she made Junior Nationals at the age of 8 and that she continued to rank high among her peers the years following. However, when she finally qualified for the Olympics, a terrible shoulder injury took her out of the running.

"So," she started. "You guys ready to start the set?"

The swimmers had no choice but to high tail it into the water.

**XXX**

**June 11, 9:15 A.M.**

After an exhausting practice of swimming and dry land (swimmer slang for any workout not done in the water), the girls cleaned up and washed to get ready for the rest of the day.

Ino toweled her legs off and regarded the rest of her teammates. "So what do you guys have planned for the rest of the day? I heard that summer school is starting today. It is a Monday after all."

Sakura answered, still brushing her pink hair. "You shouldn't even have to ask that Ino. I know what I'm doing for sure. That involves sitting on my ass for hours, drowning my sorrows in ice-cream and watching reruns of The Big Bang Theory."

"Ugh!" Ten-ten pinched Sakura in the side. "You are such a lucky bastard. I have to go to badminton practice. I swear, my knees are going to be Jell-O by the end of all of this athletic junk."

After a few moments of comfortable silence Ino asked, "What about you Hinata? Have you got anything planned?"

Hinata, who was currently tying a pair of sneakers looked up in surprise. As much as her friends' liked her, she tended to blend in when it came to casual locker room conversation, or just conversation in general. The sudden inquiring nature of Ino caught her off guard.

"Yes," she replied, "I-I've got a summer school class. I'm taking psychology as an elective now because all of my class slots were taken sophomore year."

"Oh!" Ino exclaimed. "That should be fun." The blonde's stunning smile made Hinata blush and look away. How was Ino her friend when she totally outclassed her in beauty and personality? Hinata shrunk as she looked at her simple pair of running shorts and Nike dry fit shirt.

Suddenly the bell rang and Hinata was quickly out of the locker room door, saying her goodbyes to the girls who were still in various stages of undress.

She knew where the rooms were fairly well in the high school already since she had been there for two years. Regardless, it was still a large school of over two thousand kids, so there was much room for error. The paper she had put in her swim bag earlier for reference was quickly swiped out.

"A312…A312… That means the third floor," Hinata said aloud. She inwardly groaned just thinking about the task, especially since she had just been working out for three hours.

"Stairs are such a joy to climb aren't they?"

The voice was a husky one that immediately caught the girl's attention. Hinata turned around abruptly to see the most attractive teen she had ever encountered at their school. Ever. Period. His face was plastered in a smirk. The guy's eyes glittered with an emotion that wasn't recognizable at first. The guy looked very myseterious with his spiky black hair and unusually pale skin. His muscles were shown off in a skin tight, blue, button up shirt and jeans.

Hinata couldn't help it. She flushed bright red. "W-who are you?"

The guy shoved a hand in one of his jean's pockets before answering. "I'm Sasuke, happy to be a senior finally. You?"

"I'm Hinata, sadly still a junior."

They stood together for a moment of awkward silence before Sasuke spoke again. "Well Hinata, still sadly a junior, I happen to be going the same place as you. Do you mind if I walk with you?"

Hinata smiled. "Yeah, that would be really nice. You can drag me to class if I fall down the stairs."

Sasuke burst out laughing. It was a very melodic sound that resonated throughout the empty hallway they were standing in.

"No seriously," Hinata said, touching his shoulder tentatively, "I actually might pass out."

The black-haired man turned to her and rose an eyebrow.

Then she poked him. "I'm joking! Well… only partially."

"Good!" He then smiled slightly and began walking. The two chatted animatedly all the way to the class, oblivious to the pair of curious eyes boring holes in their backs.

**XXX**


	2. Sketchy

**Hello everyone, this is Nonumaru. I'm glad you guys enjoyed last chapter. Here is another one in hopes that it fleshes out the plot a little more. A special announcement for those who read ****Naruto and Hinata Akkipuden****: that story is currently under serious construction. My grammar sucked two years ago and I realize that. Enjoy, read and review always!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and never will. Though I did go over to Japan in hopes to steal Shikamaru, but apparently the Japanese like cute things even more that I do. XD**

**Warnings: Swearing and possible sexual references.**

**XXX**

**June 11, 9:45 A.M.**

When Hinata and Sasuke made it to the correct room on the third floor, they noticed a bunch of other students milling around in front of the door. Hinata was surprised when she didn't recognize any of them. The class seemed to be full of seniors. Though she herself wasn't a social butterfly, it made her uneasy when she didn't have relations with these classmates. The only person she 'knew' was Sasuke, and she had just met him.

In an instant, heavy footfalls were heard from across the hallway.

"That must be Mr. Asuma," Sasuke said, with an expression Hinata couldn't quite identify. Even though she hadn't known him that long, and didn't expect to read him like a book, Hinata usually took pride in guessing accurately the emotions of others.

Asuma fidgeted terribly, like he was in desperate need of a smoke. "Go in, go in." He waved the group in with a shaky hand.

The class was huge, making the room and its measly contents way too small to be practical.

"Damn budget cuts," Sasuke whispered in Hinata's ear. She nodded in response.

Once a few more chairs with matching desks were in place, Mr. Asuma spoke again.

"Okay. Everyone get in alphabetical order by last name. 'A' will be 1 on the board for seats and 'Z' will be 32. No. Wait. Shit, this is way too confusing for the first day." Asuma ran a hand through his hair, quickly reaching into his desk for a box of Nicorette gum. "Just… pick your seats yourselves." A couple people cheered. "Any bad behavior I see and this whole agreement changes."

The desks were arranged in twos, so one had to have a partner to sit next to. After Asuma finished speaking, the teens in the room all looked at one another to make sure they were guaranteed a seat with one of their good friends. Since Hinata was the only junior in the class to begin with, she was at a major disadvantage at finding a seat.

A strong, muscular arm nudged her. "Hey, you can sit with me if you want. I'm free."

It was Sasuke. His eyes were twinkling in amusement, pointing to a pair of seats in the back of the room.

Hinata nodded and blushed. Was he laughing at her little problem?

"Alright," Asuma continued, "Now that everyone is settled, let's play a little game of two truths and a lie. You can do it with the person sitting next to you. Even though most of you know each other already, I figure it is a good idea for those who don't to break the ice a bit. Go on."

As Sasuke turned to look at Hinata, she noticed the girls across from her scowl her way. Maybe Sasuke wasn't as free as she had thought.

"You first," he said.

"Okay," replied Hinata, thinking. "I have another family member that goes to this school, my favorite color is blue, or I am in two sports."

"Hn." Sasuke put his head in his hand and ran a finger across his chin. "You are obviously athletic, so the lie isn't the last one… Your favorite color isn't blue. Yes! That's the lie!"

Hinata scowled. "Darn. How did you know? I thought my clothing would've fooled you." True to her word, the shirt she was wearing was a deep shade of blue.

"But Hinata," he stared long at her face, causing her to blush a deep shade of red, "Your eyes are purple. Now that I think about it, that is super rare."

"W-what the hell does t-that have to do with it? I'm surprised you even noticed. Though I'm not wearing my glasses today-"

"I'm right, aren't I?"

Hinata banged her head on the desk, exhaling loudly. She mumbled under her breath." F-fuck y-you…"

Sasuke heard. He tried to contain himself, but a chuckle couldn't help but escape his lips. "Wow. You don't seem like the swearing type."

Hinata picked herself up again. "Sorry, it's a habit. Besides, there are a lot of things in this world that deserve colorful language. Ah-em, swimming." Adjusting in her chair, Hinata continued. "So enough about me. W-what about you?"

"Okay. I love storms. I'm on the track team. Or, I hate tomatoes."

Hinata smiled shyly. "You are _obviously_ athletic, so not the middle one."

Sasuke grinned at the copy of words.

"I'll go with hating tomatoes. Most people dislike them."

Sasuke shook his head.

"No way!" Hinata gasped. "What are you, a masochist? Really? Storms?"

The dark haired teen rose an eyebrow.

Hinata turned red and looked away. "The scare the living crap out of me just thinking of them. They do not please me at all."

"I'm sorry about that." Sasuke looked to is lap as if recalling something. "My mother didn't like storms either."

**XXX**

**June 12, 11:50 A.M.**

There was one indisputable fact about the swim team. Ino Yamanaka knew almost everyone in Kohona high school, whether it be their dark past, grades, or dating history. She was also the person everyone went to, to find out about these people they needed information about. That was why Hinata called Ino up to talk.

"So what's up girl?" Ino asked, taking her second slice of pizza.

"Nothing," Hinata answered quickly.

"Girl, you're fidgeting. You only do that when you are hiding something. You didn't ask me to hang out after a tiring swimming day for nothing didn't you?"

Hinata sighed. "No…"

"Then spit it out." Ino smiled. No matter what, this blonde would keep her secret.

"What do you know about Sasuke Uchiha? He's a senior-"

Ino missed the pizza that was aimed at her mouth. The sauce splattered all over her face. "OH FUCK!"

Hinata scrambled for a tissue. "Are you okay? Did it get in your eye?"

The blonde paid no mind to the questions as she wiped her face off. "Sasuke Uchiha? _The_ Sasuke Uchiha! How the hell did you run into _him_?"

"Well, um, I…" Hinata flushed a deep shade of scarlet. "H-he sits next to me in my summer school class."

"Oh dear." Ino put her head in her hands and looked up at her friend, eyelashes batting slightly. "Honey, you like him, don't you?"

"I never said that!" Hinata squeaked. Her voice had gone up two whole octaves.

Ino scrambled up and gave her friend a hug. "Oh my gosh. I love you so much girly. Your heart is so open to love it is amazing." She released her from the long hug after a moment. "I just have to worn you about some things though."

Hinata nodded and exhaled long. "I don't like him just yet though. I barely know him. I do think that he is attractive though."

"Oh hell yeah he is!" Ino smiled. "That guy is gorgeous. However, looks come with a price. There is a lot of trash going around about that guy. He's had a tough childhood and he's been around. Even his friends say that they don't know much about him. I've been snooping around since our middle school days, but not much has come up. Do you really want to know more about him from me?"

Hinata paused, a small smile touching her lips. "You know what, no, I don't. Whatever I find out about him, he will willingly tell me. I shouldn't make judgments based on what his friends say. I feel like I would violate his privacy any other way."

The blonde ruffled her friend's hair. "You would really make a cute girlfriend. Just be careful honey. I don't want your innocent heart broken just because some sketchy jock broke it. Got it?"

Hinata snaked her arms around for a hug this time. "Absolutely**."**

**XXX**

**June 13, 9:05 A.M.**

"Guess what day it is?"

There was a huge sigh. "Ino… seriously?"

"PANCAKE FRIDAY! This has been my motivation for the whole week. You know that right?"

"Wow. You really must be an Ino-pig. That stuff in going to go straight to your ass."

Ino gasped in mock horror. "Sakura, you are such a bitch!"

The two began to catfight in from of the bike rack until someone else made their appearance known. It was a girl with blonde hair put into four identical ponytails. Her gaze was steely and full of authority.

"You two again? Geez, you guys should be dating. Your need to be messing with each other all of the time seems to be insatiable."

Both of the girls' mouth's fell to the ground. Yeah, Temari's sense of humor was _really_ strange.

"I'm joking." The new blonde sighed and ran a hand over her face. "That sure woke you guys up didn't it?"

Ino blinked rapidly.

Then, after a pause Temari added, "Pancakes start when the first person gets there. The chocolate chips will be gone if you don't furry up. My brother will probably eat all of them before 9:30-"

Ino and Sakura weren't having any of that. They scrambled desperately to grab their bikes, which they found to be still attached to the bike rack.

Sakura turned around after unlocking the bike. "So your house is on 25th … Temari?... Where did she go?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "You know Temari. She's always dashing off somewhere with those strong breaststroke legs of hers. Come on. Let's follow Shikamaru and Sai."

The bikers rode swiftly through the streets in a straight line. Since Kohona was a suburb as opposed to a big city, few cars were out. They had free reign of the town.

The four reached Temari's bright blue house just in time to see Gaara bring out the pancakes. Gaara was a quiet, estranged kid and also the younger brother of Temari. His red hair was short and unruly, and his eyes didn't look any better with the deep dark circles under them. Despite all this, he happened to be a great water polo player. Gaara left as soon as he had come.

"Well," Temari said, shocking everyone out of his or her reverie, "Go for it. We didn't slave over these floppy circles of sustenance for nothing, ya know?"

Pancake breakfasts on Wednesday's weren't only a motivation, but also a time to chat and gossip. The talk ranged from relationships, to family problems, to dirt about some of the incoming freshmen.

"So," Ino whispered to her friends seated around her, "I heard that Coach Kakashi is going to bring 'camp' back."

Temari's fork clattered to the floor. Sakura almost dropped her pancakes. Ten-ten almost fell off her bike on the way into the patio. "Say what? That is total bullshit Blondie. The money is too tight!"

"No, seriously I'm not lying. You guys know my mother does minutes for the meeting. Why would I be lying?"

Sakura scoffed. "To get our hopes up I suppose."

Shikamaru, from his spot at the table with his eyes closed said, "I highly doubt that she is lying."

Temari nearly burst out laughing. "Yeah! You people forget that I'm one of the few people who actually remembers the camp. Well, when we still had it at least. It was complete hell."

"What do you mean?" Ino said.

"What do I mean!? Dude, that camp is only fun after the fact. Let's put it this way. With your team you are stuck on this island in the middle of nowhere with no technology. There is no way of getting food there, so you have to bring all of your own, which just adds weight to your pack. You sleep in tents, not knowing if it is going to rain before you set it up. Chipmunks steal your shit and mosquitoes become the predominant race. Does that sound like a good time to you? And I didn't even mention the hiking."

Temari crossed her arms. "I still have scars from those bites I got then. The horseflies are killer."

Everyone cringed.

Shikamaru opened his eyes and grinned. "You just totally put everyone off the trip."

Temari grinned. "Well aren't you just bright there Shika. If these rumors about camp really are true you better watch out. I'm definitely going to be a counselor."

**XXX**

**I know this chapter was a tad shorter, but I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Two days ago marked the official start to my swimming season. I have a question for you guys. How many of you readers are actually on a swim team?**


End file.
